Latest news with #Laura
American Press
7 hours ago
- General
- American Press
Veterans partner with non-profit for post-storm roof repair kits
Integrity Homes Co-Owners David Souileau and Warren Vandever demonstrate how to use the emergency tarp. (Ashlyn Little / American Press) Southwest Louisiana has seen its fair share of blue tarps on homes in recent years. With hurricane season beginning on June 1, now is the time to be prepared in case an emergency situation strikes. The Southwest Louisiana Veterans Association has partnered with Houston-based non-profit Every Shelter to distribute FEMA-approved emergency roof patch kits as part of a pilot program for local veterans. Every Shelter volunteer John O'Donnell, who is helping coordinate the pilot program, said the organization creates shelters for refugees in places where people need it. 'They were doing it so innovatively, they were creating these shelter solutions from recycled vinyl and recycled styrofoam and the environmental side of me kind of perked up a little bit and I became really interested,' O'Donnell said. Once O'Donnell contacted Every Shelter, he learned about the patch kit. That's when he started working with them to get the word out. The patch kit is 100 percent made in the U.S. The kit includes one tarp, nails and step-by-step installation instructions. 'The tarp is super easy to put up. If you can swing a hammer you can put this tarp up. The kit comes with the nails — it comes with everything you need, including the instructions and a video about where and how to place it. It makes it really accessible for those that need it,' O'Donnell said. Small, smart intervention can prevent bigger damage and keep people safe after a storm, he said. 'For example, with my own roof, we didn't lose the whole roof, we just had enough of a hole in it that enough water got in the walls where we had to gut the whole home. This can bridge that gap between the hole in the roof and getting a new roof,' O'Donnell said. The tarp will last longer than a blue tarp because of the UV specifications that it has and because it is made out of recycled billboard, according to O'Donnell. David Soileau and Warren Vandever co-own Integrity Homes, a veteran-owned contracting company that started in 2020 after Hurricanes Laura and Delta. 'Myself and Warren served our country and we both just want to serve. We're kind of done with the national service, but we still want to serve the community at least. When John brought the opportunity for us to be involved, it let us have a bigger way to serve the community and be ready for the next event,' Souileau said. 'We really wanted to partner up with what John's (O'Donnell) got going on. We have a big heart for the community, especially here in Southwest Louisiana, and want to make sure people get taken care of — mitigation is key, you need a dry place to stay and by having these tarps available can make a huge impact in keeping you safe,' Souileau said. For more information on the Emergency Roof Patch Kits visit
Time Magazine
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Breaking Down the Brutal Ending of Bring Her Back
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Bring Her Back. The message of Bring Her Back may be that grief is the real monster. But desperate mother Laura (played with a harrowing intensity by Sally Hawkins) makes a pretty good one all on her own. As a follow-up to their acclaimed 2023 feature debut Talk to Me, Australian filmmaking brothers and RackaRacka YouTube creators Danny and Michael Philippou have delivered a brutal exploration of trauma and loss in the form of a boundary-pushing supernatural horror. The movie is vicious and visceral, and is currently sitting at a certified fresh rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. Following a found footage-style opening sequence depicting a disturbing occult ritual, Bring Her Back introduces us to tight-knit step-siblings Piper (Sora Wong) and Andy (Billy Barratt). We quickly learn that 17-year-old Andy feels responsible for protecting his younger sister, who is mostly blind. So after they find their father bloodied, vomit-spattered, and dead in the shower, it makes sense that Andy—who is three months away from turning 18 and being allowed to become Piper's legal guardian—fights to stay by her side as they're turned over to child protective services. Unfortunately, their eccentric new foster mother, Laura, is really only interested in Piper, as she bears some striking similarities to Laura's late daughter Cathy (Mischa Heywood), who drowned in their pool. In fact, it's obvious Laura would prefer Andy not be there at all. When Piper and Andy arrive at Laura's secluded home, they find out she's also housing a mute and seemingly disturbed young boy named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), whom she introduces as her nephew and often keeps locked away in his room. But as Oliver's behavior turns increasingly violent and Laura's attempts to create a divide between Piper and Andy grow ever more blatant, it becomes clear that whatever Laura's really up to is far more dark and nefarious than simply not wanting troubled teen Andy moping around. How Bring Her Back ends Bring Her Back is a tough and squirm-inducing watch that never grants viewers any real reprieve as it hurtles toward its cruelly bleak conclusion. But for horror fans seeking nearly 100 minutes of relentless dread, this one is likely to get the job done. In the end, it's revealed that Laura, driven to all-consuming anguish by her daughter's death, is attempting to use that same ritual we caught a glimpse of in the movie's opening minutes to try to resurrect Cathy, whose frozen corpse she's been keeping hidden away in a locked shed. We never find out how exactly Laura came into possession of the VHS tape containing the footage, but we do learn that the rite involves transferring the spirit of the dead into the body of another person via a possessed host. More specifically, the possessed host has to consume the dead before purging their remains into the mouth of a person who is sacrificed in the same manner in which the deceased originally died. Even more specifically, a possessed Oliver—who is actually not Laura's nephew but rather a boy she kidnapped named Connor—is going to have to eat Cathy's body and then vomit her into Piper's mouth after Laura finishes drowning Piper in the pool, thus completing the soul transfer. Following weeks of psychological torment at Laura's hands, Andy returns to the CPS office and manages to convince their caseworker, Wendy (Sally-Anne Upton), that she needs to come check out what's going on at the house. Laura's latest ploy has been brutally hitting Piper in the face in the middle of the night and trying to convince her it was Andy, leaving Piper with a black eye and Andy desperate to get his sister away from Laura. But once Wendy realizes Andy is more than right about the danger at hand, Laura springs into action by trying to run both Wendy and Andy over with her car. Wendy is instantly killed and Laura then proceeds to drown a still-breathing Andy in a puddle. When Piper returns home and discovers Andy's body, she tries to get away but Laura overpowers her and drags her out to the pool. As Oliver stands at the ready, swollen with Cathy's remains, Laura begins drowning a fighting and thrashing Piper. However, at the last minute, Piper screams out "Mom" and it jars Laura enough for her to realize that, after all that, she can't bring herself to go through with killing Piper. Piper escapes and is picked up by her goalball coach, who was apparently coming to check on her after seeing her black eye earlier that day. Later, the police discover Laura lying in the pool clutching the mutilated remains of Cathy's body. They also find Connor, who managed to make his way outside of Laura's circle of possession, crying for help on the ground as he comes back into his right mind. Piper's final scene shows her hearing a plane soaring overhead as she recalls Andy trying to comfort her in the wake of their dad's death by describing how planes carry the souls of the departed to the afterlife: "We're not burned or buried, we just catch a flight."
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Muddled Message of Bring Her Back
The horror genre has come to feel oversaturated with message films: artistically rendered stories that use scares less to frighten and more to manifest psychological or philosophical themes. So when the Philippou brothers—a pair of Australian directors (and twins) who got their start on YouTube—premiered their feature debut, Talk to Me, it felt like a burst of youthful energy. The gnarly cautionary tale followed a group of teens whose attempt at a séance goes disgustingly wrong; it became a film-festival and art-house phenomenon. Impressively, the movie resonated with highbrow audiences without sacrificing the unbridled ambition the directors had used to gain a foothold online, with short films inspired by professional wrestling and pop culture. Yet their follow-up film, Bring Her Back, feels like a conscious swerve away from those roots. Gone is the sense of teen anarchy; instead, like so many other prestige horror movies, this is a story about relatable trauma and loss with a dark supernatural element. The Philippous have a real gift for composing viscerally disgusting moments that will be tough for even a hardened horror fan to shake. That's what makes their trudge toward the other side of the genre somewhat of a surprise—it's a grasp at seriousness from a duo who have previously thrived most when they're having fun. Still, the film provides an excellent vehicle for its lead actor, Sally Hawkins. The English Oscar nominee, a favorite of the director Mike Leigh and the on-screen mom to Paddington Bear, has never before been in a straightforward horror movie, but she's an incredible asset here. She plays a dotty foster mom, Laura, who takes in two teen siblings, Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), after their father dies. Their new caretaker's scatterbrained affect just barely hides dangerous ulterior motives; she vacillates between being an overly affectionate friend to her charges and a hypersensitive disciplinarian. [Read: Time for scary movies to make us laugh again] The filmmakers know exactly how to leverage Hawkins's warm, naturalistic screen presence, using her offbeat sweetness to keep the audience guessing as to her character's exact level of malevolence. Laura's home is supposedly a good fit for the brother-sister pair because she had a blind daughter, who died; Piper is visually impaired. Yet the siblings' new environment curdles pretty quickly as Laura becomes unduly fascinated with Piper's similarities to her deceased child, and is outwardly hostile toward the fiercely protective Andy. Other goings-on contribute to the film's eeriness: A shirtless and mute child named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) is wandering around, sporting a suspicious birthmark. Oh, and there are multiple locked doors that absolutely should not be opened. Credit to the Philippous—Bring Her Back never tries to pretend that anything remotely normal is happening. Laura's house is a messy, colorful disaster, reflecting a personality that was clearly once charmingly ditzy and has disintegrated into instability. Her approach with Andy in particular swings wildly; one night she's doing shots with him into the wee hours, reflecting lovingly on the life she used to live, while at other moments she's waging a psychological campaign—rifling through his things, convincing him he's wet himself—to drive him from the home. In another actor's hands, Laura's erratic malevolence would feel obvious, something even the most incompetent social worker could see through. Hawkins, however, knows how to use her twee energy to her advantage, largely tittering and mumbling away. This makes the flashes of steeliness, when they come, all the more frightening. [Read: The master of highbrow horror] Those revelations are also evidence of the directors' struggle to interpret these hijinks as psychologically revealing, not just wickedly gruesome. Teasing out the mysteries of Laura's character drew me in; the broad strokes of her preoccupation with Piper make sense, while exactly what she's planning to do with the girl is hard to pinpoint—especially with the unsettling wild-card presence of Oliver shuffling around in the background. Laura dismisses his odd behavior as that of another traumatized foster child, but its origins are far more disturbing. Exploring the nature of his pain—as well as Andy's and Piper's—is where the film's message becomes most muddled; the abuse that children can face from the adults watching over them is largely treated as the stuff of plot twists. Bring Her Back is far more confident in its portrayal of Laura's own story, building to a devastating and intense conclusion about the extent of her loss and her inability to deal with it. Hawkins is up to the challenge, and the rest of the ensemble is strong enough to keep pace. But many of those story beats feel perfunctory; the film comes to life in the nastier, grislier set pieces. A scene in which Oliver intentionally misuses a kitchen utensil is nightmarish and unforgettable; another depicting a brutal, cultish ritual is more visually and narratively unnerving than Laura's subsequent attempts to replicate it. Some horror directors can blend highbrow storytelling with intense viscera gracefully—a seemingly appealing impulse for those who want to stay on trend without neglecting the roots of the genre. The Philippous do it adequately, but hopefully in whatever comes next for them, they embrace their greater strength once more: setting up audiences for a rollicking good time. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Were These General Hospital Favorites Missing From The Nurses Ball?
While this year's General Hospital Nurses Ball was a night to remember for many, we can't help but wonder why some key Port Charles residents were missing from the biggest event of the year. Lulu (Alexa Havins) certainly made her presence at the ball unforgettable, but missing were two key family members: Lucky (Jonathan Jackson), and the mayor herself, Laura (Genie Francis). Sure, Laura could have an excuse if she needed to stay home with Ace during Kevin's (Job Lindstrom) extended visit to Fairmont Crest, but what's Lucky's excuse? It certainly wasn't staying with the injured Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst), considering Lucas (Van Hansis) also skipped the ball to watch it on TV with Liz instead of asking his Miami crush Marco (Adrian Anchondo) to be his date. READ THIS: GH fans ask where this missing Mac (John J. York) and Michael (Rory Gibson) scene went. But the biggest missed opportunity was making both Lucky and Liz absent from the ball when they could have recreated an old Nurses Ball act and warmed the hearts of every OG LL2 fan watching. Ava (Maura West) May be back to having riches, but she didn't barge into the ball glammed up and with Ric (Rick Hearst) on her arm like many may have expected. She even performed one year, but this time around, her absence was hardly felt. READ THIS: Amanda Setton opens up about Brook Lynn's heart-wrenching GH twist. Considering how proud Brennan (Chris McKenna) is of scoring Carly (Laura Wright), you'd think he would have taken this opportunity to ask her to the ball. Instead, he wasn't seen once, while Carly arrived with alone and snapped some memories with her daughter and Sonny (Maurice Benard). Did you notice any key characters missing from this year's Nurses Ball? Let us know in the comments.
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
The ABC issues cop-out apology for journalist's false NSW floods rant about absent Nationals MPs that absolved everyone else of responsibility
And so it came to pass on the evening of Thursday 29 May that the ABC TV 7.30 program told viewers that Laura Tingle, the program's political editor, was heading off and taking up the plum position of the ABC Global Affairs Editor. This is what presenter Sarah Ferguson had to say: Sarah Ferguson: Now, before we go tonight, it's time to farewell our political editor, Laura Tingle. Since 2018, Laura has helped shape our political coverage here at 7.30, cutting through the noise to deliver her sharp analysis. She's also farewelling the Canberra Press Gallery where she's been working for 40 years. It was a matter of don't talk about the fact that La Tingle once referred to the 'ideological bastardry' of the Morrison Coalition government or that she once described Australia as a 'racist country'. Rather it was a matter of honouring ABC royalty. Benjamin Disraeli once said: 'Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.' That was certainly the case with Princess Tingle. Tingle's bestie Niki Savva heaped praise. Phil Coorey was positive but measured. However, the stand our performer was photographer Michael Bowers who had this to say – while wearing a Tingle T-shirt which said 'Laura Tingle is not having any of your s**t': Mike Bowers: Laura is both wonderful and terrifying…. I always comforted myself when I'd look left and right [at the Canberra Press Gallery in Parliament House], and there'd be various people who were still working there. And then Laurie Oakes was one of them, and he left. And then I would always look to Laura and go: "Well, Laura's still here, so everything's all right". It was like my, it was like my comforter. You know that if Laura was here, things were fine, and now I'm going to have to readjust and take a good hard look at my life choices. Groan. Will Comrade Bowers be able to readjust to life in the Canberra Bubble without obtaining inspiration from La Tingle? MWD will keep you posted. Meanwhile, here's a pic of Michael Bowers on 7.30 laying on praise with a trowel for Princess Tingle. Michael Bowers – who appears weekly on the ABC TV Insiders program dressed up for the occasion in his 'Laura Tingle is not having any of your s**t' T-Shirt 7.30 BAGS LABOR FROM THE LEFT Media Watch Dog has always held the view that while the ABC is hostile to the Coalition, on occasions it attacks the Labor Party – but invariably from a leftist position. This was the case on Thursday 29 May when ABC TV 7.30 program ran a piece it termed 'The contentious decision to extend the North West Shelf gas project'. The reference was to the Albanese Labor government's decision to consider a program to continue the use and extend the operating life of the North West Shelf gas processing plant in Karratha, Western Australia beyond the expiry date of 2030. 7.30 invited two commentators to discuss the decision. Richard Denniss, executive director of the leftist think tank The Australia Institute and Bruce Mountain of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre. Both criticised the Albanese government's decision. No other view was heard. How very ABC. CAN YOU BEAR IT? ABC MEDIA WATCH'S LINTON BESSER IGNORES CLAUDIA LONG'S IGNORANT RANT ABOUT TWO NATIONALS' MPs BUT SNEERS AT THE NATIONAL PARTY AS PARLIAMENT'S 'COLOURFUL COCKIES' A big Australian media story of last week involved ABC political reporter Claudia Long's error-ridden rant about the Nationals. It occurred when Comrade Long was a panellist on the ABC TV Insiders program on Sunday 25 May – presenter David ('Please call me Speersy') Speers and executive producer Samuel Clark. This is discussed at some length in today's 'Outside Insiders' segment. To summarise, when appearing on Insiders on Sunday 25 May, Claudia Long falsely accused Nationals MPs Alison Penfold and Pat Conaghan of not being in their electorates in north-east NSW when the floods were at their most severe and five people died. This was hopelessly wrong and the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster made an apology on the Corrections and Clarifications page of its website that afternoon. These Corrections/Clarifications are all very well. But they are no substitute for an on-air correction on the same program – in this case, an apology read out by Comrade Speers on Insiders next Sunday. Media Watch Dog will be watching. The Long howler was an important Australian media news story last week. But, it was totally ignored by the ABC TV Media Watch program. Instead, presenter Linton Besser gave yet another Sermon on the Media Watch Mount on other matters. The ABC Media Watch program would have been an ideal place for Comrade Besser to correct Long's howler about the two Nationals MPs – and to criticise the failure of Comrade Speers to challenge Comrade Long's assertions. But no reference to the matter was made at the beginning or at the end of Besser's Sermon last Monday. Instead, in his coverage of the dispute between the Liberal Party and Nationals leaders over the formation of a Coalition after the election, Linton Besser made a sneering reference to the Nationals as 'Parliament's colourful cockies'. Can You Bear It? ROSS GITTINS TELLS SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THAT HE HAS THE MONEY TO PAY TAX ON UNREALISED CAPITAL GAINS IN SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF MORE THAN $3 MILLION This is how Ross Gittins commenced his (invariably boring) column in the Sydney Morning Herald on 28 May): Would you want Australia to become more like America? How on Earth did so many Yanks vote to reinstall a crazy, destructive leader such as Mad King Donald? If we don't want to become more like them, it's worth thinking about how it happened, so we know what not to do. You would think that the SMH's economics editor would be able to offer a better critique of President Donald J. Trump than call him a 'Mad King' – which is just (unoriginal) abuse. But he of the 'Gittins Daily' seems to believe that such put-downs are clever. Groan. Comrade Gittins went on to defend the Albanese government's intention to tax unrealised capital gains in superannuation funds – concluding with this: Taxing capital gains that haven't yet been realised may mean the tax has to be covered by money taken from elsewhere, but most people this well-off have plenty of money outside their super funds. So, don't believe it. These rich people just don't want to pay more tax, and, as usual, are hunting around for the best counter-arguments they can find. I can afford to pay it, and so can they. So, according to Comrade Gittins, taxing unrealised capital gains will not affect 'most' people, apparently. After all, they are rich and your man Gittins declares that he can afford to pay the tax. He has over $3 million in superannuation. Well done, Mr Gittins. As to some of the people who do not have money outside their super funds to pay the tax – well, who cares? In fact, the argument is not really about the level of tax. The proposal is a tax on unrealised capital gains at 30 per cent. There is no substantial argument about the Labor government's intention to increase the superannuation tax from 15 per cent to 30 per cent with respect to individuals whose superannuation funds exceed $3 million. Rather, the argument turns on whether unrealised capital gains should be taxed at all – not the level of the tax. Comrade Gittins reckons that 'most' can pay – so don't worry about the others. Which raises the question: Can You Bear It? [Interesting. According to Robert Gottliebsen in The Australian , former Labor prime minister Paul Keating is opposed to the proposal to tax unrealised capital gains. – MWD Editor.] A DAVID MARR/LAURA TINGLE MOMENT IN WHICH DAVID AND LAURA HAVE WHAT THE ABC ADMITS IS A 'SPRAWLING CONVERSATION' ABOUT LA TINGLE'S NEW TAXPAYER FUNDED ROLE AS THE ABC'S GLOBAL AFFAIRS EDITOR As avid Media Watch Dog readers know, Gerard Henderson listens to ABC Radio National's Late Night Live (aka Late Night Left) when walking the canine Ellie of whom he is the (male) co-owner. On Monday 26 May, Hendo listened to the 45-minute long [Don't you mean very long? – MWD Editor] interview by LNL presenter David Marr with Laura ('Australia is a racist country') Tingle. This is how the ABC described the occasion: After 30 years of appearances on Late Night Live – spanning nine Australian Prime Ministers - Laura Tingle bids farewell to LNL as its political correspondent in Canberra, before commencing her ABC Global Affairs role. In a sprawling conversation, Laura recounts her early beginnings in journalism, the ebbs and flows of Canberra politics through the decades, and what she's come to admire in our representatives. In addition to her weekly appearances on LNL since God knows when – amounting to some 1,200 instances – La Tingle has been ABC TV 7.30's political correspondent since 2018. Here's how the (platonic) love-in commenced: David Marr: Welcome to Late Night Live …. Week after week we introduce Laura as our eyes and ears in Canberra. Well, it ain't a formula, it's the truth. Since Bob Hawke's time, this sharp, brave, independent spirit has been reporting politics as it is – for us, for you, and for Australia. Laura, am I embarrassing you yet? Laura Tingle: The blush is going to my head. David Marr: Okay, hold tight for more. Later on, your man Marr had this to say: David Marr: This is Late Night Live , I'm talking to Laura Tingle because she's about to leave us and go away and report the world instead of Australia. Laura, when you were doing radio, we rarely talked face to face. I mean, it's wonderful, you know, today we are face to face in the studio. Indeed, we're being filmed, and your hair and makeup are perfect…. On this occasion, La Tingle did not admit to blushing. Here are the highlights of the Marr-Tingle verbal entente: Soon after the interview commenced, LNL played an excerpt from a previous LNL occasion, when Phillip ('Have I told you I was a teenage Commo?') Adams spoke to Tingle. David said the year was 1966. Laura corrected him to say it was 1996. This was easy to prove because – guess what? – Laura Tingle was busy bagging the Liberal Party for (allegedly) 'trying to stay one step ahead of the law' concerning financial disclosure – to the satisfaction of Comrade Adams. John Howard was Liberal Party leader at the time. Quelle Surprise! played an excerpt from a previous occasion, when Phillip ('Have I told you I was a teenage Commo?') Adams spoke to Tingle. David said the year was 1966. Laura corrected him to say it was 1996. This was easy to prove because – guess what? – Laura Tingle was busy bagging the Liberal Party for (allegedly) 'trying to stay one step ahead of the law' concerning financial disclosure – to the satisfaction of Comrade Adams. John Howard was Liberal Party leader at the time. Quelle Surprise! Tingle said that Australia was a 'country that's basically mostly about digging stuff up' which she described as 'an obscenity'. Forgetting that company tax and royalties paid by the mining sector help to pay journalists in the Conservative Free Zone that is the ABC – including La Tingle. Tingle told Marr that 'everyone sort of loves Jacqui (Lambie). Oh yeah? Lambie scored 7.4 per cent of the primary vote in the recent Senate election for Tasmania. La Tingle spoke well – of herself. Let's go to the transcript: David Marr: So, after a decade or so in the [Canberra Press] Gallery, does information flow to you, or are you seeking information out? I mean, do you become, do you become a sort of target of information in a way? Laura Tingle: …When you've been there a while, if you need to know something, you can just go straight to the source, so to speak, and talk to them. So, it becomes easier, and you also just read the plays a lot more. There's been a few things just in the last few weeks where, you know, in our conference call in the morning that we have at 7.30, people will be saying: "Oh, what's going to happen here?" And I'll say: "Well, I haven't actually spoken to anybody about this in the last 24 hours, but if this has happened, that means this is going to happen.' And much to my own shock, I've been right. David Marr: Of course you have, of course. Of course, Of course. Of course. And well done La Tingle. Laura Tingle had this to say about fellow left-of-centre journalist Anne Summers when they both worked at the Australian Financial Review. Laura Tingle: The subs [at the AFR ] used to have a sweep about how long Anne Summer's sentence, longest sentence would be in her weekly column. David Marr: We did that at The National Times years later. Go on. She did. Then David Marr invited Laura Tingle to discuss 'prime ministers you've known and what do you think of them now – looking back?' La Tingle praised Malcolm Fraser whom she never covered in Canberra, saying this: Laura Tingle: …. I used to say, you know, at writers' festivals and things that Malcolm Fraser had been the Darth Vader of my childhood and become the Obi-Wan Kenobi [a Star Wars hero] of my later years, because we ended up being quite good pals, really. In other words, La Tingle palled up with Malcolm Fraser after he ceased being a Liberal Party prime minister and moved to the left on many issues. Tingle went on to claim that Liberals 'actually don't believe in government'. Somewhat – somewhat hyperbolic, don't you think? But there you go – after all she is an ABC presenter. Then there was this: David Marr: Does [Bob] Hawke deserve the sort of afterglow that he's been given? Laura Tingle: It's interesting. I mean, my view of Hawke may have been heavily influenced by the fact that for most of the time he, all of the time he was prime minister, I was either – I was writing about economics. So, my sort of major focus was on the treasurer, or, in fact, a couple of treasurers, after Keating in the Hawke era, or at least one, two. And, and to me, the dynamism of that government on economics came from Keating, and that was certainly the story that he pushed. It's really only through sort of different paths I've come to appreciate Hawke's quite extraordinary intellect…. The 'one' or 'two' treasurers she failed to name would include John Dawkins. He was treasurer in the Keating government in the early 1990s. David Marr: Was the Hawke/Keating government the most, the most effective, the most perhaps intelligent that you've reported? Laura Tingle: Without a doubt, absolutely, La Tingle went on to praise Paul Keating and to allege that John Howard 'took it [the issue of race] to Canberra'. She also claimed that Howard governed according to what 'polling' told him. What a load of absolute tosh. Then David Marr raised the issue of Kevin Rudd – concerning whom Tingle made both positive and negative assessments. Then nothing was said about prime ministers Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison or Anthony Albanese. Instead, attention turned to Ms Tingle's cat. A certain 'Boo'. And David Marr imitated Boo going 'Grrr'. Fair dinkum. But David told Laura, 'I can't bear cats'. More need-to-know information. And then Laura Tingle told listeners (if listeners there still were) about her new perk at the taxpayers' expense of being the ABC Global Affairs Editor – replacing John Lyons, whose new perk is to be the ABC Editor Americas – involving 'translating' the Trump administration to Australians. Then Comrade Marr asked the big question: David Marr: … Now, Laura, what preparations are you making for turning your attention from Australia? This concentrated 40 year – is it? – 40-year scrutiny of little Australia and turning your gaze to the entire world. How are you preparing for it? Laura Tingle: Well, I suppose it would be easy to say it's going to be completely different, but I want to do for the world what I've done for Australia. [Laughing] Is the world ready for this? But, I mean, I want to, essentially. I mean, particularly at 7.30 you know, I don't see myself as a news breaker, you know. I see myself as an explainer. You know, we've got this bombardment of information coming to us now, but we don't necessarily have a context to understand it and consider it. So that's what I want to be doing in this job, and I think we need more of that than ever…. And I feel like, you know, in some ways, all of my background in economics and politics puts me in a really good place to go and look at those questions…. Yes, we know. How pompous can a journalist get? Laura Tingle is going to explain the wide world to Australians. And this is how the indulgent 45 minutes concluded: David Marr: Laura, thank you for, God knows how many, certainly more than 1200, 1300, 1400 appearances on Late Night Live . For shaping this show and for reporting Australia to us in the Late Night Live family. Thank you very much. Laura Tingle: It's been a great joy, David Marr. David Marr: And we shall end with a special piece of music to indicate where our hopes lie. The song We'll Meet Again was played. This was made famous by Vera Lynn during the Second World War. Released in 1939 (composers Ross Parker and Hughie Charles) We'll Meet Again was sung by Vera Lynn and commenced: We'll meet again Don't know where Don't know when But I know we'll meet again some sunny day Keep smiling through Just like you always do 'Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away So will you please say hello To the folks that I know Tell them I won't be long They'll be happy to know That as you saw me go I was singing this song…. Now We'll Meet Again was a morale-raising song directed at the men and women who were to go to war with Nazi Germany – and their families who stayed in Britain. Whereas La Tingle's 'We'll Explain Again' – involves international travel on business class and accommodation at fine hotels at the taxpayers' expense. A young comedian known to MWD said that the Marr/Tingle interview gave her the impression that the ABC star was off going to war – and wondered what the ABC might do when Comrade Tingle retires. In the meantime, La Tingle will travel the world, in some comfort, including cities where the ABC has bureaus, and explain to us mere mortals what's going on. How self-important can an ABC presenter be? It turned out that the pre-recorded Marr/Tingle interview ended at around 10.45 pm. What to do before the clock reached 11 pm? David Marr introduced a 10-minute segment titled 'Why has the theatre interval gone out of style?'. It was a frightfully interesting discussion between Marr and John Shand, the Sydney Morning Herald's theatre critic. The only problem was that it had previously aired on LNL . The date was 8 April 2025. But LNL listeners were not warned of this. Perhaps Comrade Marr could have filled the vacant space by interviewing Comrade Boo. Just a thought. OUTSIDE INSIDERS As avid readers are well aware, a certain William (Bill) Thompson – a Melburnian who identifies as the ABC's Southbank Correspondent – set up the 'Outside Insiders ' video segment some years ago. This is a print edition of the Bill Thompson initiative to report on the ABC TV Insiders program from the outside. Insiders fled Melbourne for the (media) safety of the Canberra Bubble in 2020 and, consequently, was now loose from the troublesome Mr Thompson. INSIDERS PRESENTER DAVID SPEERS AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SAMUEL CLARK 'OUT TO LUNCH' WHEN ABC POLITICAL EDITOR CLAUDIA LONG DID AN ON-AIR RANT ABOUT TWO NATIONALS MPs At 4.49 pm the ABC put out what passes for an apology on its Corrections and Clarifications web page which was updated at 4.55 pm. Except it wasn't really a correction. You be the judge: Nationals MPs during NSW floods Sun 25 May 2025 at 4.49 pm Insiders: On the Insiders episode broadcast on 25 May an ABC panellist made comments inferring [sic] two Nationals MPs, Alison Penfold and Pat Conaghan, were not in their electorates during the recent NSW floods. The ABC wishes to clarify that both Penfold and Conaghan spent the week in their electorates and sincerely apologises for the error. The comment has been removed from the on-demand version of the program. Spot the omission? ABC journalists like naming names when it covers stories. However, in this instance, the ABC Insiders' panellist was not named. It was ABC political reporter Claudia Long. What's more, Long did not 'infer' anything. Nor did she 'imply' (to use the correct terminology). Rather she made a specific allegation. Here is the full statement which was deleted from the iview version of the show – without explanation: Claudia Long: The thing [is] like you were saying Jennifer. Is that without the Liberals, it's all well and good for the Nationals to do well, they don't end up in government. They can't actually enact any of these policies. And to be honest the cynic in me, listening to Kevin Hogan just then, talk about how all of these policies are really important to regional communities, and that's absolutely true. Obviously, you need the internet, and you need phone coverage. I think the other thing that's probably really important to regional communities is that they have a local member who's there when their electorate is, for example, flooding. And people are dying. And that is what has happened this week. We've seen the Nationals doing all of this in Canberra. And I was actually – I went through this earlier today – I went and checked. So, on Wednesday afternoon, there was a 63-year-old man, in Moto – that's near Taree, that's in Alison Penfold's seat, the National. He died. On Thursday morning, the body was recovered of a 30-year-old – a man in his 30s in Rosewood, that's in her seat as well. On Thursday afternoon, that's when we had the press conference from the Nationals in the hall [of Parliament House]. Just to go over that timeline. A 60-year-old woman died in her car near Coffs Harbour in this flood, that's in Pat Conaghan's seat of Cowper. Now, I think, to be perfectly honest – yes, there might be people coming up to the Nationals this week saying thank you for standing firm on those policies. But I think the important thing is that when you're in opposition it's also still your job to be a local member and represent your communities and to be there for them. Jennifer Hewett: ….. Note that the Insiders' presenter David Speers did not contest Claudia Long's attack on the Nationals. Nor did Insiders' executive director Samuel Clark advise Speers (through his earpiece) to challenge Long since Speers should have known that only some Nationals were present at the media 'doorstop' in Parliament House on Thursday 22 May. Claudia Long's rant is an example of activist journalism in action – something which ABC chair Kim Williams has condemned, even though he has not called for viewpoint diversity within the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster. Here's where Comrade Long went wrong. Claudia Long researched the deaths that had occurred due to the floods affecting parts of the electoral districts of Lyne (represented by Alison Penfold) and Cowper (represented by Pat Conaghan). But she did not ask either MP as to whether they were in their electorate on Wednesday 21 May and Thursday 22 May. Both were. This is lazy, unprofessional journalism. Claudia Long made the false claim that on 22 May the Nationals held a press conference in the Parliament House hall – and implied this was attended by Ms Penfold and Mr Conaghan. Not so. The media event involved the Nationals leader (David Littleproud) and Nationals deputy leader (Kevin Hogan) and the Nationals leader in the Senate (Bridget McKenzie). Claudia Long implied – without a skerrick of evidence – that somehow or other, politicians are responsible for deaths by drowning that occur within their electorate. In conclusion, Claudia Long got the ABC into trouble on Insiders because she delivered a premeditated attack on the Nationals. This is not the proper role for a commentator on Insiders. To this extent, David Speers and Samuel Clark bear some responsibility for what occurred on the couch on Sunday 25 May – especially since no attempt was made to challenge Claudia Long's rant. THE [BORING] SATURDAY PAPER The Saturday Paper (Morry Schwartz proprietor, Erik Jensen editor-in-chief) is the only newspaper in Australia that contains no news. It is printed on Thursday evenings and arrives in inner-city coffee shops on a Saturday morning. Ellie's (male) co-owner reads it on Mondays at Gin & Tonic Time. What's the hurry? TSP's JASON KOUTSOUKIS CITES 10 SOURCES IN CRITICISING THE ALLEGED INFLUENCE OF TONY ABBOTT AND PETA CREDLIN ON THE LIBERAL PARTY – NINE OF WHOM ARE ANONYMOUS Did anyone read – at Gin & Tonic Time or some other time – The [Boring] Saturday Paper dated 25 May? The main Page One story was titled 'Exclusive: How Abbott and Credlin control the Libs'. It was illustrated by a photo of Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin during the time he was prime minister. This means, no less than 12 years ago. The piece was written by Jason Koutsoukis, TSP 's special correspondent. The sub-heading was as follows: Liberal MPs reveal how the former prime minister and his close confidante have been at the centre of a string of disastrous decisions that led to the party's stunning election loss and the collapse of the Coalition. Who are these Liberal MPs? – Media Watch Dog hears avid readers cry. And here's the answer. They comprise (i) 'one single Liberal source', (ii) 'a Liberal close to [NSW Liberal Party leader Mark] Speakman', (iii) 'another Liberal source', (iv) 'one member of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party', (v) 'moderates', (vi) 'one NSW moderate', (vii) 'moderates', (viii) 'one Victorian Liberal source, (ix) 'Liberal insiders' – and, wait for it, (x) Matt Kean. Here's what Comrade Koutsoukis said about Comrade Kean: Still, for NSW Liberal moderates such as Matt Kean, there are glimmers of hope – even after the Coalition's crushing May 3 defeat. A former state treasurer and deputy Liberal leader, Kean remains one of the party's most prominent centrist voices. Last year, he was appointed chair of the Climate Change Authority by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a rare cross-party nod to Kean's policy credentials. It's not clear what Mr Kean's 'policy credentials' are with respect to climate change matters. According to Who's Who in Australia , your man Kean has a and a Graduate Dip CA – with a background working for PricewaterhouseCoopers. But no qualifications in engineering and/or science relevant to the climate. After a brief period at PwC, Kean became a political staffer and later a politician. Your TSP man did not explain how, if Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin were running the Liberal Party at the time of the May 2025 election, Peter Dutton's economic policy amounted to an incoming Coalition government presiding over higher income taxes over three years and a higher deficit over the first two years. That doesn't sound like the Abbott/Credlin agenda. Comrade Koutsoukis concluded his article by advising the Liberal Party that the road to political redemption is to take Matt Kean's advice. This from The [Boring] Saturday Paper 's special correspondent. Turn it up. When did TSP editor-in-chief Erik Jensen ever want the Liberals to win? AN ABC UPDATE ABC NAMES THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF A FORMER LIBERAL STAFFER (JUSTIN BASSI) BUT NOT THAT OF A FORMER LABOR STAFFER (MARK KENNY) Over the years the ABC has had many prominent presenters who once worked as Labor Party staffers. The list includes 'Red' Kerry O'Brien (who worked for Gough Whitlam) and Barrie Cassidy (who worked for Bob Hawke). But the ABC did not mention this much – if at all. Moreover, the contemporary ABC interviews men and women who once worked for the Labor Party and the Greens – invariably without mentioning their work history. Here's how Mark Kenny – a one-time political staffer for a State Labor left-wing faction MP in South Australia – was introduced when he was interviewed by ABC Radio National Saturday Extra presenter Nick Bryant on Saturday 10 May. Nick Bryant: Let's get the latest from the ABC's National Affairs correspondent Jane Norman and Mark Kenny, a former doyen of the Canberra Press Gallery and now a professor at the Australian National University. Thanks both of you for joining us on ABC Radio National. No mention of Comrade Kenny's political history there. And here's how Justin Bassi – the executive producer of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute – which has just released a report critical of the Albanese government's defence policy – was introduced on ABC News Breakfast last Wednesday. James Glenday: Australia spends about $56 billion each year on the nation's defence. But a new report from the think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, says that amount doesn't match the current threats to Australia or even the future threats. Justin Bassi is ASPI's executive director. And, full disclosure, he also worked as a chief of staff and adviser to former Liberal ministers – including Malcolm Turnbull, Marise Payne and George Brandis. So there you have it. There's one rule for former Labor Party staffers and, apparently, another rule for former Liberal Party staffers. YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS? 'You Must Remember This' is based on the chorus line in the song As Time Goes By which was popularised by the film Casablanca . It is devoted to reminding the usual suspects (living or dead) of what they and/or those they supported once wrote or said or did. Or, indeed, what they failed to write or say. REMEMBERING THE 2016 ELECTION CAMPAIGN WHEN LIBERAL LEADER MALCOLM TURNBULL LOST 14 SEATS TO LABOR The Conservative Free Zone that is the ABC will tolerate a Liberal Party prime minister – provided they are someone like Malcolm Turnbull. For this reason, your man Turnbull has ready access to the taxpayer funded broadcaster whenever he wants to criticise the Liberal Party or its leader. Usually Radio National Breakfast where the likes of former presenter Patricia Karvelas and now Sally Sara invariably give him soft interviews. There was a change on Friday 23 May, however, when Mr Turnbull appeared on the ABC TV Insiders Podcast where he received a soft interview from Insiders presenter David ('Please call me Speersy') Speers. Let's go to the transcript where Comrade Speers invited the former prime minister to comment on the 3 May election result: David Speers: …We haven't heard from you yet why the Liberals lost so badly in this election. Malcolm Turnbull: Well, they lost so – I mean, they lost so. Look, the right- wing of the party and their backers in the right-wing media – in the Murdoch media in particular - which is the ecosystem, the anger-tainment ecosystem, in which the right-wing of politics exists nowadays. They got what they wanted. They got Peter Dutton as the leader, and they got control of the party, and they have burnt it to the ground…. Turnbull went on to blame News Corp – which he still holds responsible for his losing the Liberal Party leadership and the prime ministership, in August 2018, when a majority of his colleagues decided they no longer wanted him as leader. Turnbull finalised his long rant as follows: Malcolm Turnbull: I haven't checked all the stats, we need Antony Green, but I've never seen a party in an election campaign go backwards so much in the course of the campaign. You know, in the, in the like, in the five weeks of the campaign. It is true that the Liberal Party ran a dreadful campaign – without an offensive or defensive game plan. This was not helped by the fact that the Coalition went to the election promising that, if it attained office, personal taxes would be higher in its first term and the deficit would increase in its first two years of its first term. This was hardly a right-wing agenda. The fact is that the Liberal Party has been going backwards since Tony Abbott led the Coalition from opposition to government in September 2013. Turnbull replaced Abbott in a party room vote in September 2015 and led the Coalition in the July 2016 election. Put simply, it was a disaster. On 21 March 2016, Turnbull announced that he was recalling parliament on 18 April 2016 to consider, for a third time, bills to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). In other words, he was intent on a double-dissolution election as early as possible in the new financial year to avoid a situation whereby the election date for the House of Representatives and the Senate would be out of sync. The date was 2 July 2016 – 14 weeks and 5 days away. On 18 April, the ABCC bills were rejected in the Senate and the following day Turnbull announced that he would seek a double dissolution election for 2 July – 10 weeks and 4 days away. On 8 May, Turnbull advised the Governor-General to hold a double dissolution election on 2 July – 7 weeks and 6 days away. Sir Peter Cosgrove granted this on 9 May – 7 weeks and 5 days away. The official campaign commenced on 9 May. However, the election campaign effectively ran for close to three months. Followers of Australian politics were aware of the problems when Bob Hawke called an early election for 1 December 1984 – the campaign ran for 8 weeks. Turnbull's campaign effectively went for close to 12 weeks. Anyone who has experienced the 1984 campaign knew that Turnbull's tactics were likely to be doomed. In the event, Turnbull ran a hopeless campaign. According to reports he rarely campaigned after lunch. Moreover, the Liberal Party was out of money, so long was the campaign and he personally kicked in $1.75 million to help out. The prime minister was out-performed by Opposition leader Bill Shorten. On 2 July 2016, the Liberal Party lost 14 seats to the Labor Party and was saved from defeat by the Nationals who retained all their seats. The Turnbull government survived narrowly. Malcolm Turnbull never accepted responsibility for the Liberal Party's campaign in 2016 – unlike Dutton in 2025. Needless to say, David Speers did not raise this issue in his soft interview on the Insiders Podcast . But Media Watch Dog says – You Must Remember This. FIVE PAWS AWARD Media Watch Dog's Five Paws Award was inaugurated in Issue Number 26 (4 September 2009) during the time of Nancy (2004-2017). The first winner was ABC TV presenter Emma Alberici. Ms Alberici scored for remembering the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 23 August 1939 whereby Hitler and Stalin divided Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union. And for stating that the Nazi-Soviet Pact had effectively started the Second World War, since it was immediately followed by Germany's invasion of Poland (at a time when the Soviet Union had become an ally of Germany). Over the years, the late Nancy's Five Paws Award has become one of the world's most prestigious gongs – rating just below the Nobel Prize and the Academy Awards. FORMER AGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MICHAEL GAWENDA CRITICISES THE LACK OF REPORTING OF ANTI-SEMITISM BY THE ABC AND NINE NEWSPAPERS There was a time when Michael Gawenda was a man of the left. Not anymore, it would seem. A former editor-in-chief of The Age and the author of My Life as a Jew , Gawenda wrote a piece in The Saturday Paper titled 'Confronting Anti-Semitism' on 10 May 2025. Gawenda commenced his article by referring to a young singer songwriter who booked and paid for a flight to Melbourne to appear at a gig. But the gig was cancelled at late notice. As Gawenda explained: This was not an isolated incident for the singer-songwriter. She has been unable to get gigs in Australia ever since, in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, she posted on social media that she stood with Israel and its people and condemned Hamas and those who questioned what had happened that day. Gawenda blamed the left, commenting: For significant parts of the left, the anti-Zionist left in particular, left-wing anti-Semitism is considered a minor issue. If it does exist, then it is thought of as an understandable response to what has happened in Gaza and, for that matter, what Israel – the Jews – have wrought in Palestine since 1948. Zionist Jews deserve the hostility they have been subjected to; they are not victims of racism but, rather, the victimisers. And the former editor-in-chief of The Age made this criticism of the ABC and Nine Newspapers (i.e. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald ) The idea that anti-Semitism on the left does not exist, cannot exist, because Jews are the quintessential example of white privilege, because they are wealthy, successful, powerful beyond their numbers and therefore must be part of the oppressor class rather than the oppressed, is widespread among the elites at universities and in journalism and even at the Human Rights Commission. The result has been an under-reporting at the ABC and in the Nine papers of the increased hostility towards Jews in Australia. This under-reporting exists because many journalists believe Jews have weaponised the accusation of anti-Semitism in order to deflect from the genocide by Israel of the Palestinians, a genocide they believe began in 1948 with the declaration of Israel's independence. At the same time, there is a view that any increased hostility to Jews must be a reasonable response to the deaths of Palestinians in the current conflict in Gaza. The suffering of Jews is trivial compared with the suffering of the Palestinians, for which Australian Jews, Zionists, must be held in some way responsible. Journalists, like the universities, have been incapable of dealing with what is incontrovertible: there has been increased hostility to Jews in Australia since the October 7, 2023, attacks. They have been unable to accept the fact that Jews feel threatened and unheard. They have ignored the real instances of attacks against Jews, physical and verbal, and the tidal waves of hatred against them in social media, only thinly disguised as anti-Zionism. That's a significant criticism of the effective censorship of reporting anti-semitism in Australia by the ABC along with The Age and Sydney Morning Herald by a former editor-in-chief of The Age. Michael Gawenda: Five Paws NEW FEATURE: A W.E.B. UPDATE As avid Media Watch Dog readers are aware, journalists like to say that they take a Well Earned Break (W.E.B.). Whereas we mere mortals take leave or go on holidays or whatever. IT'S OFFICIAL – JONATHAN GREEN ADVISES LATE NIGHT LIVE LISTENERS THAT DAVID MARR IS ON A WELL-EARNED BREAK When walking Ellie at 10.05 pm on Tuesday 27 May, Hendo heard this announcement: Jonathan Green: On ABC Radio National, this is Late Night Live. I'm Jonathan Green, coming to you from the lands of the Wurundjeri people in Melbourne, Naarm. I'm filling in for David Marr, don't panic, as he takes a breather for a couple of weeks. Then on Wednesday 28 May there was this message: Jonathan Green: On ABC Radio National, it's Late Night Live. I'm Jonathan Green, filling in for David Marr while he's on a break. Coming to you from Wurundjeri Country. And then on Thursday 29 May: Jonathan Green: On ABC Radio National, this is Late Night Live. I'm Jonathan Green and we're temporarily coming to you from Wurundjeri Country here in Naarm, Melbourne. Mr Marr on a well-earned break. So, there you have it. MWD fave Jonathan Green told listeners that your man Marr was taking a breather. This was followed by saying he was on a break. Until, at last, reference was made to a Well Earned Break. For the record Late Night Live goes to air four nights a week. Comrade Marr commenced Late Night Live this year on 20 January 2025 and went on his first W.E.B. on 26 May – after four months. MWD believes that avid readers would like to know this. **** Until Next Time **** Gerard Henderson is an Australian columnist, political commentator and the Executive Director of The Sydney Institute. His column Media Watch Dog is republished by each Saturday morning. He started the blog in April 1988, before the ABC TV's program of the same name commenced.
